High-speed fluid-compressor



3 Sheets-Sheet 1. RIIES.

M HIGH SPEED FLUID COMPRESSOR.

(No Model.)

Patented uly 9, 1895.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 2. M. BITES. HIGH SPEED FLUID COMPRESSOR.

Patented July 9, 1895.

(No Model.)

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(No Model.) A 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. y P. M. RITBS.

HIGH SPEED FLUID COMPRESSOR.

No. 542,426. Patentd July 9, 1895.

WITNESSES:

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FRANCIS M. Rrrns, or PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

HIGH-SPEED FLUID-COMPRESSOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters atent No. 542,426, dated July 9, 1895.

Application filed October 16| 1894, Serial No. 526,044. (No model.)

lTo @ZZ whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. BITES, a citizen of the United States, 'residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a certain new and useful Improvement in High-Speed Motors and Fluid-Compressors, of which improvement the following is a Speciication.

The object of my invention is to provide a compressor for air or other elastic fluid which shall be of simpleand inexpensive construction and which in operation shall attain a greater degree of eiiiciency than has heretofore been attained in compressors of the several known types and eectively perform its required functions at a high speed.

To this end my invention, generally stated, consists in the combination of a compressorcylinder, a valve mechanism controlling the eduction function thereof, an adjustable eccentric actuating the eduction-valve mechanism, and a governor controlling said adjustable eccentric; also, in the combination of a j cylinder, a differential piston working therein, a valve mechanism controlling the distribution of motiveiiuid to and from one or'more of the Surfaces of said piston, and` a valve mechanism controlling the distribution of fluid to be compressed toand from another surface or surfaces of said piston.

The improvement claimedis hereinafter fully set forth.

I showing thegovernorand valve connections;

Fig. 3, a horizontal section through the compressor valve-chest at the line Qc of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a transverse section through the same at the line y y of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a plan or top view of the compressor-valve; Fig. 6, a vertical longitudinal central section through a double-cylinder compressor in which a double expansion of motive fluid and a double compression is effected; Fig. 7, an end view, partly in section, at the vline z c' of Fig. 6, looking from the left; Fig. 8, a transverse section through the compressor valve-chest, and Fig. 9 a similar section through the motor valvechest, both being taken at' the line w w of Fig. 6; Fig. 10, a viewin elevation of' the adjustable eecentrics and governor-weight detached; Fig. ll, a transverse section through the same, and Figs. 12 and 13 diagrammatic sectional views illustrating modifications in the construction ofthe cylinders and pistons.

In the practice of my invention, as exemplified in the construction shown in Figs. l to 5, inclusive, I provide a cylinder 1, which serves both as a motor and a compressor cylinder and is fitted with a differential piston G-that is to Say, a piston having surfaces of respectively different areas, through one of which it acts as a motor-piston and through another as a .compressor-piston. In this instance a tubular extension or trunk 6b is formed upon the piston and works in a corresponding tubular open-ended extension 1b of the cylinder l. The cylinder l'is fixed upon a frame or housings 5, and its piston 6 is coupled by a connecting-rod 12 to the pin of. a crank 10 on a crank-shaft 4, journaled in bearings in the frame. Motive uid is admitted' to and exhaustedl from the cylinder-space around the trunk;V 6b and acts upon the annular lower acted on bythe latter throughout its circular upper surface.

The distribution of motive fluid is effected by a distribution-valve 13, which is shown as of the piston type and is fittedtoreciprocate in a valve-chest 14 o'n the side of the cylinder 1 and to control a port 1c therein, adjacent to its lower end. The motor distributionvalve 13 is actuated by an adjustable eccentric 16, which is mounted on the crank-shaft 4 and is varied and controlled in position thereon by a'governor 17. The rod 2O of the eccentric 16 is coupled to the stern 15 of the distribution-valve 13 through the intermediation of' a rock-shaft 37, having arms 36 and 38, which are connected respectively to the eccentric-rod 2O and to the valve-stem 15.

The induction and eduction of fluid to be compressed to and from the cylinder-space above the piston 6 is effected by a slide distribution-valve 13C, fitted to reciprocate in a valve-chest 14a on the top'of the cylinder 1 and controlling-ports 14h, through which fluid to be compressed passes from an inlet-oper.-

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ing 13f tothe space above the piston, and thence to a discharge-pipe 13e, leading to a reservoir or receiver.

The compressor distribution-valve 13c is actuated by an adjustable eccentric 16, which is mounted on the crank-shaft 4 and is, similarly to the eccentric 16 of the motor distribution-valve, varied and controlled in position by the governor 17. The adjustable eccentrics 16 and 161L are, in this case, shown as formed integral, and they project oppositely from the vertical central plane of the crankshaft, so that adjustments by the governor which increase the eccentricity of the eccentric of the motor distribution-valve coincidently and correspondingly decrease the eccentricity of the eccentric of the com presser distribution-valve.

By a construction substantially as above described the eduction function of a compressorcylinder is effected by valve mechanism actuated by an adjustable eccentric which is controlled by a governor, and the distribution functions of a motor-cylinder and a compressor cylinder are coincidently and inversely varied by the positive application of a common controlling influence in the manner set forth in a separate application (Case C) tiled by me of even date herewith, Serial No. 526,043. The method set forth in said application is not claimed as of my present invention, but the apparatus of the latter is suitably adapted to the practice of said method. The construction also attains the advantage of a material structural simplification in admitting ot' the employment of a single cylinder and piston for the performance of both motor and compressor functions through the utilization of different surfaces of a differential piston and different spaces in the same cylinder for the reception of motive fluid and of tiuid to be compressed, respectively.

Figs. 6 to 9, inclusive, illustrate my invention as applied in a double-cylinder compressor, which so far as its essentials of structure and manner of operation are concerned may be said to be two compressors, substantially as above described, united in a single apparatus. The construction embodies, however, the further features of providing for a double expansion of motive fluid and a double compression of fluid operated on andthe utilization of separate valves for compression induction and eduction functions.

The cylinders 1 and l are of different diameters, respectively, and are, similarly tothe cylinder of the instance first described, secured upon a frame or housings 5 and provided with tubularextensions 1",within which the trunks 6b of the pistons 6 6 reciprocate. The pistons 6 6 are coupled by connectingrods l2 12 to the pins of cranks 1() 10, set oppositely,or one hundred and eighty degrees apart, on the crank-shaft 4. The distribution functions of the motor-cylinders, or, more properly, cylinder-spaces, being the spaces around the trunks 6b and below the annular' lower surfaces of the pistons, are effected by a single distribution-valve 13 of the piston type, fitted to vibrate about its axis in a valvechest 14 and actuated through a rocker and arm by the rod 20 of an adjustable eccentric 16, which is mounted on the crank-shaft 4 and is varied and controlled in position thereon by a governor 17. The induction function of the compressorcylinder spaces-to wit, those above the pistons 6 6l-is effected by a distribution-valve 13c fitted to vibrate about its axis in a chest 14, above the cylinders, and controlling a port 14c leading into the com presser-space of the cylinder 1, and a port 14e, leading into the compressorspace of the cylinder l. The induction distributionvalve 13C is actuated by an eccentric 34 fixed ,upon the crank-shaft 4 and having its rod 3l coupled to an arm on the stein of the valve 13. The eduction or discharge function of the compressor-spaces is effected by a distribution-valve13d fitted to vibrate about its axis in the chest 14a and controlling a port 14h, leading into the compressor-space of the cylinder 1, and a port 14d, leading into the compressor-space of the cylinder l. The eduction distribution-valve 13 is actuated by an adjustable eccentric 16, mounted on the crank-shaft 4, and varied and controlled in position thereon coincidently with the adjustable eccentric 16 of the motor distribution-valve by the governor. The rod 20 of the eccentric 16 is coupled to an arm on the stem of the valve 13d and, as in the instance first described, the ecceutrics 16 161L project in opposite directions from the vertical central plane of the crank-shaft and are formed integral.

In the operation ot' the apparatus motive fluid is admitted to the annular space below the piston of the smaller or high-pressure cylinder 1, and, after effecting the upward stroke of the piston 6 thereof, is exhausted into the larger annular space below the piston oi' the larger or low-pressure cylinder l, in which it is expanded and effects the upward stroke of the piston 6, after which it is exhausted to the atmosphere or to a condenser, as the case may be. The air or other tiuid to be coinpressed enters the inlet-passage 13f and is admitted by the valve 13, through the port 14e, to the larger compressor-space above the' piston of the low-pressure cylinder la, in which it is initially compressed by the upward stroke of the piston 6 thereof. lt is then egrhausted therefrom by the valve 13d, through the port 14d, into the `space 14f between the valve in the chest 14". It is then admitted by the valve 13, through the port 14, to the smaller compressor-space above the piston of the high-pressure cylinder 1, in which it is subjected to a further and final, compression by the upward stroke of the piston 6, and is thereafter exhausted by the valve 13d, through the port 14h, to the discharge-passage 13, which is connected by a suitable IOC Iog

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pipe with the receiver` or reservoir of compressed fluid.

, It will be seen that, as in the former instance, the induction function of the motorcylinder spaces and the eduction function of the compressor-cylinder spacesv are coincidently and inversely varied through the ad;

. justments of position of the adjustable eccentrics which actuate the respective distribution-valves by a governor or controlling mechanism connected to and common to both of said eccentrics. A structural simplification in accordance with that of the instance rst described-is also provided, and the operative advantage of a double expansion and a double compression of the motive Huid and of the fluid to be compressed, respectively,l is attained.

In the-instances exemplified pistons of trunk form have been illustrated as providing an annular area foi-.the action of motive uid materially less than the area of their oppositesides, which act upon the uid to be compressed in correspondence-with the ordinary material difference between the pressures of the two fluids. It will be obvious, however, that pistons of Stich type are not essential, and also that they may have. more than two Working-surfaces and that their differential areas may be so relatively proportioned that either may be adapted to act upon or to be acted upon, either the. fluid to be compressed or ythe motive fluid, as the case maybe. Thus Fig. l2 shows a construction in which motive iiuid acts upon the smaller circular surfaces of pistons having enlargements on their lowerv ends working in tubular extensions of the cylinders, and the fluid to be compressed is acted upon by the smaller annular surfacesof the enlargements of the pistons. Insuch case the downward stroke of the piston of one cylinder eifects compression in the annular space around the body of the pistonof the other cylinder during the upward stroke of the latter piston, and vice versa. Fig. 13 shows a pistou of similar form,fbut reversed in position in the cylinder, the portion which is of smaller diameter working in the tubular extension of the cylinder, which is closed at its outer end, and the piston being secured upon a piston-rod adapted to be connected to a crank in the ordinary manner. The piston thus presents three working-surfaces of dif-` ferent areas, respectively, one or more of which may be acted on by motive fluid and one or more caused to act upon the iiuid to be compressed. Motive [luid may be applied'y eected in the space below the annular surface of its enlarged portion. It will be obvious that for the practice of this latter operation a two-cylinder apparatus having its pistons connected to opposite cranks, as in Figs. 6 and 12, will be required.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A 1. In an apparatus for the compression of elasticfluid, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a cylinder, a differential piston working therein, a valve mechanism controlling the distribution of motive duid to and from one or more of the surfaces of said piston, a valve mechanism controlling the distribution of fluid to be compressed to and from another surface orsurfaces of said piston,aud a single governingv mechanismconnected to and controlling both of said distribution valve mechanisms. A

2. In anapparatus for the compression` of elastic fluid, the combination, substantially as set forth, of two cylinders of different diinders and the tubular extension thereof, a

valve mechanism controlling the distribution of motive fluid to and from a smaller surface thence to and from a smaller surface of the piston of the largercylinder, valve mechanisms independently controllingthe induction and eduction of Huid to be compressed to and from a larger surface of the piston of the larger cylindervand thence to and from a larger surface of the piston of the smaller cyl` Iinder, and a governor connected to the motive f in said cylinder and forming ,a division between spaces therein for the reception of motive fluid and of iuid to be compressed, refspectively, a valve mechanism controlling distribution in `the motive Huid space, a valvemechanism controlling eduction from the space for fluid to be compressed, adjustable eccentrics, each actuating one of said valve mechanisms, and a governor connected to and controlling both of said eccentrics.

5. In an apparatus for the compression of elastic fluid the combination of a motor, a compressor, a valve mechanism for the motor, a

valve mechanism for the compressor, two adjustable eccentrics, one having connections to the Valve mechanism of the motor and thev 'ameters, each having a tubular extension, differential pistons, each fitting one of'said cylof. the piston 0f the smaller cylinder, and

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other having;- connections to the valve mechanism of the compressor, and means connecting,r the eccentries whereby the adjustment of one of the eccentric-s, by a governor, or otherwise, for the purpose of varying the functions of the valve mechanism to which it is connected, effects an inverse adjustment of the other eccentric, for the purpose of varying the functions of the valve mechanism to which it is connected, substantially as set forth.

G. An adjustable valve operating device comprising two connected cccentrics having connections for operating two separate valve mechanisms and adapted to be adjusted on a shaft so that any variation in the adjustment of one of the eccentrics and the valve mechanism operated thereby will cause an opposite variation in the other eccentric and the valve mechanism operated thereby, substantially as set forth.

7. Vl`l1e"`combination with the valve mechanism of amotor and with the valve mechanism of a compressor of two rigidly connected adjustable eccentrics for operationg the valve mechanisms and means whereby the two eocentrics may be simultaneously adjusted to cause opposite variations in the valve mechanisms, substantially as set forth.

8. 1n a combined motor and compressing apparatus, the combination of a crank shaft, a cylinder, a differential piston fitting the cylinder and forming a division between spaces therein for the reception of motive Huid and fiuid to be compressed, connections from the piston to the shaft, a Valvermechanism controlling the distribution of motive fluid, a valve mechanism controlling the eduction of compressed fluid, connections from each of the valve mechanisms to an adjustable eccentric on the shaft, and a governing device for adjusting the eccentrics to vary the distribution of motor fluid and the eduction of compressed fiuid, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

FRANCIS M. RITE..

W'it'nesses:

J. SNowDEN BELL, F. E. GAITHER. 

